We are Here: Filmmaker Chris Ivey on documenting under-served communities and gentrification in Pittsburgh

Screening and talk

Edward Street 105

Tuesday 21st May

16:30-18:00

No booking necessary.

Chris Ivey (hyperboyfilms.com/@hyperboymedia) is an award-winning filmmaker who started his career in the Pittsburgh advertising industry, then ventured into documentary filmmaking to address his own frustrations with racism and public policy in Pittsburgh and to serve as a conduit for its underserved black community. Chris is known internationally for his documentary series East of Liberty, which focuses on race, class and gentrification fears. Currently, Chris is completing his new film East of Liberty: Youth Rising, a film that interweaves the experiences of youth in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Through the film, we hear from students first-hand about their own journeys and experiences involving teen pregnancy, gang-related activities and discussions focusing on their own futures.

Chris believes that media is an indispensable tool for reaching teens and that it is crucial for African-Americans to control the impact of media in their communities. Through the creative use of film, we can transform a culture engulfed in self-destructive media and create alternative visions that can lead black youth to success. He has produced video work for major clients including the Smithsonian Institute and the Ellen Show, and created a museum installation called “We Are Here: Finding Beauty In The Raw” that opened at the Mattress Factory Museum in May 2018. The exhibition tackles the history of racism through segregation and apartheid in the United States and South Africa. He is also a big supporter of every kid lemonade stand he sees and loves a good churrascaria.

Photo of Chris Ivey by Huny

Chris Ivey, Black Girl Magic, from We Are Here: Finding Beauty in the Raw (The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, 2018)

This two day international symposium aims to bring together activists, practitioners and researchers responding to housing inequality to explore the global and historical interconnections of the housing crisis and its localised consequences.

In contemporary society, the so-called housing crisis and inequality surrounding access to housing is a central theme in public debates. The current hyper-commodification of the housing market, the dismantling of the social rent sector and mass-scale dispossession do not only entail an unequal distribution of housing, but also reflect the conditionality of access to the right to home.

Tales of the new Diggers & Dreamers: One year on

Community solutions to the housing crisis in Brighton & Hove

Sat 16th March, at the Gallery, University of Brighton, Grand Parade, BN2 0JY.10 – 4.30: drop in or stay the whole day!Please book here for FREE at eventbrite

We invite you to come and hear stories and see pictures of what it’s like to build your own homes in Brighton & Hove, told by the people doing it. Over the last year over 150 people in Brighton & Hove have been involved in developing their own housing projects and this is a chance to hear what it is like, the ups and downs and to see the amazing homes and communities they are making.

The event is free, but we ask that you register your attendance via Eventbrite

The city of Brighton and Hove has some of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. Shelter estimates that 1 out of every 69 residents are currently without a home. On 5 December, the Radical Future’s Housing Forum is hosting an evening to discuss what we can do as a community to tackle the homelessness crisis in our city. If you live, work or study in the city, come along to find out more about what is already being done and how you can get involved to support these efforts.

We’ll set up an information table to collate flyers, leaflets and general resources for people to take away. Feel free to bring along information from your group to add to this space

The third Housing Forum was organised by Tilo Amhoff and Luis Diaz and hosted by the School of Architecture and Design.

We began the evening with a discussion that explored different ways of imagining the future of housing in Brighton. Ian Bailey (Studio 7 and SoAD) outlined alternative frameworks for land and housing development. In contrast to the existing top-down developer led model of housing, Ian spoke about how a community led approach would better provide the houses we need, increase social cohesion and enhance health and wellbeing. Luis Diaz (SoAD) introduced us to the work that he has been doing with his undergraduate design studio imagining new models of suburban housing across a range of sites in Brighton and Hove. Lisa Hartley (SEASALT Housing Co-operative) spoke about student housing co-operatives and the project she is co-ordinating to establish a co-op in Brighton to provide students from with decent, affordable and secure accommodation. Michael Howe (mae Architects and SoAD) finished the discussion by thinking about how historic housing standards might inspire us to imagine housing differently today.

Colleagues from the School of Architecture and Design then hosted a series of drawing workshops. Tilo Amhoff led a session thinking about the relationship between the individual and communal in housing and building co-operatives; Luis Diaz ran a workshop on cognitive mapping of your neighbourhood and community; and Alessandro Zambelli used the idea of the commons to interrogate designs for new student accommodation.

The evening finished with the opening and guided tour of the exhibition ‘Coming Home’, curated and designed by Luis Diaz.

15:45 Panel Discussion
Panelists will present and dicsuss their attempts for alternative imaginations of housing in Brighton

Ian Bailey (Studio Sevens on Coldean Community Project)
Luis Diaz (University of Brighton on Housing Research)
Lisa Hartley (SEASALT Housing Co-operative on South EAst Students Autonomously Living Together)
Michael Howe (University of Brighton on Land Use)

17:30 Workshops
Hosted by staff and students of the School of Architecture and Design, attendees are invited to explore creative ways of imagining the future of housing; either through drawing, modelling, or writing.

18:45 ‘Coming Home’ Housing Exhibition Opening
This Housing Forum is accompanied by an exhibition of innovative housing projects developed by architecture students within the context of Studio 12, run by University of Brighton senior lecturers Luis Diaz and Sean Albuquerque. Join us for the chance for a private view and discussion with the curator.

What knowledge can we share about the housing situation in Brighton and Hove?

What do we not know and need to find out?

This Housing Forum will focus on collating existing knowledge about the housing situation in Brighton and Hove. We will focus discussion around some of the key themes identified in the first forum: homelessness; the private rented sector; alternative forms of housing; local policy and planning; the national picture; and the housing needs of marginalised groups. Please come prepared to talk about any resources and research that you would like to share. We aim to collate this information to create an online resource centre to support those thinking about housing in the city. We will also identify what gaps there are in our knowledge and work out what research is needed most urgently to support community led efforts to tackle the housing crisis.

We’ll set up an information table to collate flyers, leaflets and general resources for people to take away. Feel free to bring along information from your group to add to this space

Thank you to everyone for making the launch of the Housing Forum such a success. It was great to get together people and groups from across to city to talk about one of the most urgent issues we face as a community.

On the evening we collectively decided to focus our initial conversations on local policy and community voices; the conditions and affordability of the private rented sector; home, housing and belonging; empty rooms and properties; the national political context; and the housing needs of marginalised and excluded groups. Out of these discussions, the following recommendations were made to take the Housing Forum forward:

Make the Housing Forum a regular event.

Develop ways to allow participants to communicate between Forums.

Work to involve marginalised voices in discussion.

Investigate ways to better support students in the private rented sector.

Collate and share existing resources and research on the housing situation in the city.

Conduct research to fill in our gaps in knowledge.

Support initiatives to give communities a voice in housing developments.

Build links with other universities who have expertise in housing.

Explore non-market forms of housing provision.

Investigate empty spaces and properties in the city.

We will take these ideas forward in our next meetings. The next Housing Forum will be on Wednesday 20th June. We will focus on collating and sharing existing resources and research on the housing situation in the city and identifying what gaps there are our knowledge.